


The Man in the Blue Suit

by TimeLord2000



Category: Half-Life, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:46:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27423688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeLord2000/pseuds/TimeLord2000
Summary: The Party has a guardian... well, to say angel would be a horrible misconception, but He (It/They/Whatever) keeps watch over them, whether they know it or not.Here are the rare few times they've seen him.
Kudos: 6





	1. The Government Man

The first time Will spotted the Man, was shortly after he got back from _that place._

He'd been laying in his hospital bed when his mother left to go tell the others he was awake. As Will turned to look as she left, he saw _Him_ standing outside.

The Man was thin, almost skeletal, with pale skin nearly grey in color, and possessed unnatural green eyes. The Man was wearing a dark blue suit, a black tie, and carrying a briefcase. Everything about him screamed "government." Upon realizing He'd been noticed by Will, the Man straightened his tie, turned away from the window, and left.

Later, they discovered that a mysterious "benefactor" had paid everyone's hospital bills, but more mysteriously, Will was back to normal within the _week,_ though it should've taken a few months, at least.

The doctors still couldn't explain it.

* * *

When Mike saw the Man, it was shortly after he'd been sent to the Principal for behavioral problems in class. Problems that had arisen more than once.

The last time this happened, the Principal had made it abundantly clear that Mike only had one last chance before more drastic measures would have to be taken. Like suspension.

As Mike moved to enter the office, he could spot the Man conversing with the Principal. No, not conversing, _arguing._ And it was a pretty heated argument at that.

What they were arguing about, Mike couldn't say. Their voices were muffled by the thick wood and glass of the walls and doors, but Mike was able to tell that his name came up more than a few times. After a solid thirty seconds of eavesdropping, the Man turned around, and looked Mike dead in the eyes.

The Man nodded one last time at the Principal, before exiting the office, and disappearing down the hallway.

Mike later realized that despite his constant problems after that moment, the threat of suspension never came up once. He wondered if the Man had anything to do with it.

* * *

When Dustin ran into the Man, he literally _ran into_ the Man.

Troy and James decided they were having a bad day, and decided to take it out on Dustin. They tried to corner him shortly after school let out for the day, and Dustin was forced to break into a desperate sprint to try and get away. When he turned a corner, he collided right into the Man.

Troy and James followed close behind, but stopped when the Man affixed a stern gaze on them. The Man then very calmly told them that their bullying days were over, and that he would be notifying both of their parents, as well as the school's Principal.

Dustin and the others didn't run into Troy and James for almost a year afterwards.

* * *

Lucas never really encountered the Man. Spotted Him watching from a distance, sure, but as for actually coming into contact with Him no.

One night, however, while riding his bike home during the storm, Lucas noticed a shadowy figure standing nearby.

Stopping to get a better look, lightning struck merely a second later, about a meter in front of Lucas.

Had he not noticed the Man, Lucas would've rode right into the spot where the lightning hit.

Lucas felt an ominous shiver, but shrugged it off, and continued riding home.

* * *

When Eleven encountered the Man, it was shortly before making contact with the Demogorgon.

The Scientists guided her to the Bathtub, and proceeded to hook everything up, while her Papa watched, and the Man stood right next to him.

A few moments later, she was told what she needed to do. The thing she kept seeing, while she was in the Dark Place, she was supposed to talk to it somehow. Learn what it was, why it was there, how it got there... it was a very important task.

But as she was put in the Bathtub, Eleven could see the Man turn to her Papa, and He calmly spoke four words. Four words that would be chilling to her very core every time she heard them.

In His raspy, unnatural voice, the man had said:

"Pre-pare for un _fore_ seen... consequences."


	2. The Children

The child was perhaps the strangest thing about His little... _expedition,_ into this plane of existence. Despite the overwhelming odds stacked against him, the young boy, one William Byers, had managed to survive for almost a _week_ in an environment that would've killed others in hours. Without proper protection, no less.

Shame he'd have to come dangerously close to dying once again.

But, alas, there was a job to be done. Many entities had long since set their sights on Earth, one of them being the creatively named "Shadow Monster." His Employers had forbade Him from dealing with the "Monster" directly, leaving the natives to deal with it. Five _children,_ to deal with it. Five children whose bright futures would be extinguished should they fail...

His train of thought was interrupted upon noticing that the Byers child had seen Him. He straightened his tie, and proceeded to walk away, confident that Will wouldn't mention Him to anyone, and they would never see Him again.

He'd deal with the boy's injuries, however. It was the least He could do for putting Will and his friends in these unfortunate circumstances in the first place.

* * *

Michael Wheeler was another curiosity He'd observed while on Earth. Whereas most others would be wary of a strange girl who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, Mike was almost immediately trusting of the girl, something that would no doubt escape the rest of his species.

When the girl vanished, seemingly dying, young Michael's heart was broken, and he was left to grieve. Unfortunately for him, and some of the others around him, this manifested in a series of behavioral problems, which mostly arose during school hours, culminating in one last trip to the principal's office, whereupon which he would be expelled.

But should Mike be expelled, that would lead him to being sent away from Hawkins to try and correct those issues, causing him to be away when the "Shadow Monster" began its invasion, allowing the entity to freely enter Hawkins, and eventually spread its influence to the rest of the world.

So there He found Himself, standing in front of the principal, arguing vehemently against Mike's expulsion. He didn't make very much progress, until He threatened the principal with "immediate termination" should Mike be expelled.

He turned around, and saw Mike looking in upon their argument.

Looking back and nodding at the principal, He knew His message got through, and left, walking straight past Mike as he did so.

* * *

Dustin Henderson was another one of their little group that found himself in a bit of trouble after not too long. The bully, Troy, had been biding his time ever since that day at the top of the quarry, waiting for another moment to strike when he was sure he wouldn't be caught, and roped in James as well.

When school let out for the day, Dustin found himself delayed by one of his teachers, who asked for Dustin's help in putting away some of the supplies. When Dustin finally left, they took that opportunity to strike.

Had they caught up to Dustin, Troy would've beat him up within an inch of his life, despite James's protests. And they came very nearly close to catching up to him as well.

But they never did. He made sure He was in the right spot just as they turned a corner, causing Dustin to run into him, and fall to the ground, while He remained standing upright. Then, Troy and James turned the corner, and He affixed an angry glare in their direction. Brushing a speck of dust off his suit, he made it very clear to the two bullies that he would be notifying their parents, then the principal, of their little "afterschool activities."

Troy and James seemingly got out of there faster than light. Helping Dustin up, He sent the younger boy on his way, and left.

* * *

Then, there was Lucas Sinclair. Ever since he was born, He'd been watching the boy, determining his usefulness as a potential future asset. The boy showed limitless potential, and all of it was about to be squandered because of a single bolt of lightning,

The problem, right now, was that a thunderstorm was blowing its way through Hawkins as Lucas made his way back home. Had Lucas continued on his way at his current speed, he would ride right into the place that the lightning would strike, and be burned to a crisp.

After convincing His Employers to allow him to intervene, He appeared on the side of the road Lucas was travelling down, just long enough to get the boy's attention. Not a mere second after Lucas's bike stopped, lightning struck far too close for comfort.

With His potential asset secured, He vanished from the side of the road, and Lucas continued on his way.

* * *

But perhaps the most important to his cause, out of all the children, was the girl, Eleven. Alongside the Sinclair boy, He also held a vested interest in the girl's development.

It had all started when His Employers assigned him the job of stopping the "Shadow Monster." Upon arriving at Earth, He came across Martin Brenner, then a promising scientist, and convinced him to work on the CIA's Project MKUltra. Brenner, unsurprisingly, accepted the offer, and set to work, but that was merely one part of the equation.

The other part, was Miss Terry Ives. The college student was desperate for money, and so He had convinced her that the project was the right way to go.

And because of that, Eleven was born. He remained in the shadows for most of her development, carefully guiding the actions of her and her "Papa," to lead to the discovery of the other dimension. And finally, after nearly thirteen long years, they were about to make contact with the "natives," and usher forth events that would lead to the eventual defeat of the "Shadow Monster."

Their futures were secured, and His job here was done, but just before He left, He turned to Doctor Brenner, and whispered four words that He would save for only one other occasion.

"Prepare for unforeseen consequences."


	3. Acceptable Losses

Isaac Newton once said the universe was like a great clock, a perfect machine. The clockmaker, God in this instance, only makes the clock and then sets it going, stepping back and letting it go on its own once His work is done.

Newton was half-right. God was a clockmaker; the universe is a clock. But clocks break down, wear over time.

So every once in a while, the clockmaker has to step in.

The first grind in the metaphysical gears is the infant slug specimen Will coughed up. A little bit of mental deduction went as follows.

The slug was flushed down the sink of the Byers household. Not a problem in itself, but the slug had to survive, and it had to make its way to Henderson's house. The slugs gestating in the slowly growing tunnels underneath the town would be sustained by the Mind Flayer, true, but the slug Will had unwittingly been a host to didn't have that same connection. It had to gain sustenance, something it wouldn't find crawling through the sewers. It would starve to death.

And if it starved… the kids in the tunnels would die. Eleven might succeed in closing the gate, but once the next invasion attempt rolled around…

His Employers would _not_ be pleased with the result.

To have to step in so soon after setting things on the right path the first time was… irritating, He couldn't lie.

But, no matter how irritating it was… the children could _not_ be allowed to die. Not like they were chosen ones, or anything of the like. But they were a culmination. A culmination of a trillion years placing the correct pieces into the correct spots.

Earth had to remain unharmed until 200-. From there, the floodgates could open. But until that decade, the Earth had to be kept intact.

The Mind Flayer was a colossal threat, to be sure. But it was only a pilot fish compared to the greater forces out there. Once those greater forces got to Earth… there had to be as many humans on the planet as possible, else, the species would go extinct during the initial invasion.

So, that was why He was being forced to wade through a cosmos-forsaken _sewer,_ looking for a slug that couldn't be told apart from half the excrement in the place.

Had He been human, He'd be repulsed beyond the capacity for thought.

He was _not_ human.

Even the most harmful, destructive parasite was just a microbe to Him.

Including the parasite He searched for now. He didn't even need to consciously devote even a fraction of His being to making sure the waste didn't ruin His exterior.

Tilting His head, the tiny black slug floated up, wriggling in the air in terror.

It then is just a simple matter of making the trek to Henderson's. It's simple for Him, of course. Unlike humans, He is not bound by the limitations of Euclidian geometry. Every point in time in space is always accessible from every other point, it is only a matter of knowing the right path.

He makes the trek to Halloween night, not long before Henderson returns home. He lifts the lid on the bin, and drops the slug inside, placing the top back.

Straightening his tie, he already knows his next destination.

* * *

Hopper is a strange man that somehow toes the line between sentimental and the kind to push everything out of his mind. That was the original purpose of the cabin, long before he and the girl had cleaned out parts of it to live inside.

It was a place to store away the memories he'd like to forget, but not get rid of completely. Boxes labeled from 'Sarah' to 'Vietnam' filled the place before.

But, even during the investigation into Will's disappearing act, Hopper had never really gathered materials on the lab. What he did find was swiftly burned away by the lab's teams when they'd drugged and bugged his old trailer. And for the longest time after that, the entirety of those who'd been involved in the snafu had been under surveillance for quite a while. Any digging into Hawkins Lab, Terry Ives, whatever, would set off a colossal number of red flags.

That wouldn't do. Not at all.

Eleven would need those files to get her started on the right journey. No files to find Terry, Terry couldn't show her Kali, Kali couldn't show her how to use her anger to make her powers stronger.

That was where He came in.

Procuring the files, the photos, all of it was ludicrously easy. All He had to do was walk in, and the humans' minds filled in the blanks for them, figuring He was someone from their government sent to check in. Not the truth, obviously, but the humans could remain ignorant. It wouldn't hurt them, after all.

Closing the lid on the box, He places it down on the stack in the basement, the inhabitants of the cabin above totally unaware of His entry.

There is one last stop to make.

* * *

He walked calmly up to the Byers household, flicking his hand. The door opened by itself, and He walked in, taking in the destroyed place around Him. The fight had done a _number_ on the place.

There, on the floor, lay Billy Hargrove, unconscious.

He turned his head, and in a moment, they were in Billy's room, the young man laying on the bed, inert.

Max wouldn't be back for some time, He expected. But it was better this than Billy getting caught up in the mess at the house. Neil was out, yes, but it would be better for him to assume that Billy and Max had returned after he'd left, not that Billy was knocked out, Max stealing his car.

He reached into his suit, pulling out a small business card. A little thing, for the local pool.

Anyone would assume He was doing Billy a favor. Quite the opposite.

The pieces were back into place now, but they'd have to be ready for the next round. They'd need someone to get Flayed. Someone close enough to the group to tip them off that something was wrong, but someone expendable.

He threw the card down and turned.

About twenty people would be infected because of Billy. Twenty people dead in a war they had no concept of the greater fallout of.

Twenty people that were acceptable losses.

He straightened his tie and vanished.


End file.
